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Now let's dive into this week's message. Well,
good morning. Last week we were in the. breaking
in series and we're kind of coming to the end
of it. This is the second to last week in the
breaking in series. And last week, Jesus in Matthew
nine gave us kind of this picture and we talked
about it extensively and it'll be a theme that
you'll see show up today as well. And that picture
that Jesus gave is this idea of the new wine
and the old wine skins or the new wine and the
old wine skins. And he said, you can't pour what's
new. into what's old because it will burst. The
older wine skins would get brittle and hard,
and if you poured new wine into it and you capped
it off, what would happen? Well, that new wine
would ferment, create gases, release it, and
pretty soon, the old wine skin would burst. And
Jesus used this as a metaphor as well as a heads
up that when the kingdom of God starts breaking
in, that it doesn't do so politely. It doesn't
do, and it doesn't politely fit into our old
containers or systems, but that it blows them
apart. It opens them wide up. And that's exactly
what we see in that very next passage that we're
moving into this morning. In fact, in Matthew
nine, Matthew doesn't change subjects here. It's
not like we moved on from new wine and now we're
into a new section. We're in the same subject
and what he's going to do, he's actually gonna
show us what this looks like in real time. Jesus
said that the kingdom is like new wine and now
we get to watch what it looks like as it's poured
out. And when the new wine is poured out, well,
what does it do? It brings life to the dead.
healing to the broken, the sight to the blind,
and freedom to those held in captivity. And it's
as if Matthew is saying, you wanna see what New
Wine does? Well, watch this. And this next little
bit, you'll see in chapter nine, beginning of
verse 18, that it's rapid fire. It's like Jesus
is going here, and then this happens, and then
boom, and then as soon as that was done, something
else happened. And again, this is a part of Matthew's
way of writing the scripture. to show us what
he just said, what Jesus just said about new
wine, he's now gonna show us. The old system
could define who was clean and unclean, but it
couldn't make anybody whole. The old system could
label what was dead, but it couldn't raise the
dead. And Jesus isn't simply in addition to the
old way, he's a complete replacement. came through
Moses, listen to what some of the scriptures
say, the law came through Moses, the grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ. The blood of
bulls and goats could never take away sins, but
Christ offered one sacrifice for all and sat
down at the right hand of the father. The old
covenant was written on stone, but the new covenant
is written on our hearts. The letter kills. but
the spirit of God gives life. The law was only
a shadow of the good things to come, not the
reality itself. And now in Christ, we're not
living under a ministry of condemnation, but
instead a ministry of righteousness that overflows
with glory. Because if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold,
the new has come. The kingdom Jesus brings is
in a patch for our brokenness. It's a whole new
garment. And Christ's miracles, as we'll see
in chapter nine, are not mere acts of power.
Not some sort of a razzle -dazzle show. They
are acts of restoration. They are signs that
the broken order of creation is being made new.
That's what we're gonna kinda explore today.
The kingdom breaks in. and it replaces what's
broken. The kingdom breaks in. It doesn't just
repair. It brings new life where the old life
has run dry. Right after Jesus says, you can't
pour new wine into old wine skins. Matthew shows
us what happens when the new wine starts to flow
and it doesn't fit into those old categories.
It bursts through them. And so let's look at
Matthew chapter nine, verse 18 through 34. If
you have your Bibles, you can turn there, Matthew
nine, 18 through 34. It'll also be up here on
the screen. As he, that's Jesus, was telling
them these things, suddenly one of the leaders
came and knelt down before him saying, my daughter
has just died, but come and lay your hand on
her and she will live. And so Jesus and his disciples
got up and followed him. Just then, a woman who
had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached
from behind and touched the end of his robe,
for she had said to herself, if I can just touch
his robe, I'll be made well. Jesus turned around
and saw her and said, have courage, daughter.
Your faith has saved you. And the woman was made
well from that moment. When Jesus came to the
leaders house, he saw the flu players and a crowd
of lament the crowd lamenting loudly Leave he
said to them because the girl is not dead but
asleep and they laughed at him But after the
crowds had been put outside he went in and took
her hand and the girl got up And then news of
this spread throughout the whole area. As Jesus
went on from there, two blind men followed him,
calling out, have mercy on us, son of David.
And when he entered the house, the blind men
approached him, and Jesus said to them, do you
believe that I can do this? And they said to
him, yes, Lord. And then he touched their eyes,
saying, let it be done for you according to your
faith. And their eyes. were open and then Jesus
warned them sternly be sure that no one finds
out but they went out and spread the news about
him throughout the whole area just then just
as they're going out a demon possessed man who
was unable to speak was brought to him and when
the demon had been driven out the man who had
been mute spoke and the crowds were amazing nothing
like this has ever been seen in Israel but the
Pharisees said he drives out demons by the ruler
of demons. This is God's word. We got three points
today, and if you're taking notes, the first
point I'll have you write down is the new kingdom
brings life where there was death. No sooner
does Jesus finish talking about new wine than
a desperate father pushes through the crowd toward
him. And his father is a synagogue ruler. He's
respected, he's powerful. Probably the kind of
guy who would have been very uncomfortable seeing
Jesus sit around a table with a tax collector.
But now his little girl is gone. Now his little
girl has died and death has a way of humbling
even the proudest heart. And he kneels before
Jesus and he says, my daughter has just died
but come and lay your hand on her and she will
live. And that's not religion talking, that's
not a self -righteous religious talk or speak
there, is it? That's a desperate man who's come
to the end of himself, not looking for a patch
on his life, but willing to take his whole life
and throw it at the feet of Jesus and say, I
believe you're the only one who can do something
in this, I'm out of options, I can't fix this.
The old wineskin of status and ritual and control,
it can't hold this kind of desperation. that
this father is experiencing. The system of walking
through this or that ritual or tradition is not
gonna cut it today. My little girl is gone. This
new wine, this is raw and risky trust. And so
Jesus and his disciples begin to head toward
the little girl and on their way they're interrupted
with another story. A woman who's been bleeding
for 12 years, so unclean, isolated, exhausted
from trying every solution the old system had
to offer. Under the law, she couldn't even be
in the crowd for fear that being unclean, because
of this bleeding condition, it would touch others
and this uncleanness would spread. But faith
made her do what religion could never do. She
reached out. She says to herself, if I could
just touch the edge of his cloak, I'll be healed.
And Jesus stops. And when she does it, what does
he do? Does he rebuke her? No, he calls her what?
Daughter. And this is the only time in the gospels
he uses that word for anyone. The only time in
the gospels, the word daughter is used. Not woman,
not sister, daughter. A covenant, family word.
A word that pulls her out of 12 years of isolation
and places her inside of the household of God.
And the priests, they couldn't give her that.
The sacrifices couldn't give her a lasting. place.
The law couldn't give that to her, but Jesus
can because he's not patching up the old covenant.
He's ushering in the new. And when he calls her
daughter, he's doing more than just healing her
body. He's giving her a new identity. He's saying
to her, you belong to me. Your shame doesn't
name you anymore. Your suffering doesn't define
you. You are family. What should have made him
unclean by her her touching him? What should
have made him unclean instead? Reverses goes
the other way other direction and his cleanness
his holiness his righteousness is instead passed
to her The old wineskin said you have to stay
away from others And the new one says come come
home The kingdom of The kingdom of God doesn't
just heal bodies, it restores identities. He
didn't just stop the bleeding, he ended 12 years
of shame. And so I ask you, where has shame told
you to stay hidden when Jesus is calling you
out of the crowd? What wound have you carried
for so long that you stopped believing it can
ever be healed? Are you reaching out in faith
or are you staying back in fear because you believe
you're not worthy? By the time Jesus reaches
the rulers house He finds a scene there the mourners
have already arrived He encountered this woman,
called her daughter, healed her body, and from
that moment on, she was clean, free of not only
the issue, but free of the shame that's associated
with it, clean and made holy. And now, at the
ruler's house, the old system, when someone died,
well you had to get the body out of there pretty
quickly because it would decompose. And so you
get on the horn and you call up the the flautists
in the neighborhood and you get them on down,
get the flutes playing and get, start lamenting
because we gotta, we gotta move this along. The
old system knew what to do with death. It hired
flute players. But Jesus walks in and says, the
girl isn't dead. She's sleeping. And what do
they do? They laugh at her. I laugh at him. They
ridicule him because when the kingdom is breaking
in, and you will find this in your life, as the
kingdom breaks into your life, it always looks
foolish to those who are comfortable with funerals.
It looks foolish to those who have gotten comfortable
hanging out with dead people. And when they start
to see life, it doesn't always translate into
joy. And then he takes her hands. He takes her
hand. Was she dead? She was dead. But Jesus knew
what was about to happen. He takes her hand.
Jesus, the rabbi, touches the hand of a dead
young girl. Again, not according to the law.
He would become unclean. He would have to go
through a set of rituals to find himself clean
again by touching the young girl. But he touches
her. and life returns. What couldn't be touched
without becoming unclean, Jesus makes clean with
a touch. And that's what new wine does, it raises
what's dead, it restores what's defiled, it replaces
despair with joy. The old covenant in some ways
was like a heart monitor. It could tell you that
your heart stopped or that you had a heart problem.
It could tell you that and that's good information,
right? It's good to know what's going on with
your heart, but it couldn't do anything about
your hearts. In the new covenant, Jesus, he's
like a defibrillator, right? Or he's like a heart
surgeon who can come in and just do a heart transplant.
I'll just give you a new heart altogether. Let's
just take out this bad guy and let's put a new
guy in there and get this thing going again.
The old covenant knew how to manage death. the
new covenant brings resurrection life. Everywhere
Jesus goes, things that were dead start breathing
again, but Matthew isn't done here. The new wine
doesn't just bring life to what is dying. It
opens eyes that can't see. If you're taking notes,
number two, the kingdom opens eyes that couldn't
see. So as Jesus leaves the ruler's house, two
blind men start following him, crying out, have
mercy on us, son of David. Have mercy on us,
son of David. Sorry, I got distracted for a second.
Are you guys comfortable in here, temperature
-wise? I'm burning up. I hope you guys are happy.
I'm about to get the defibrillator up here quickly.
I'm about to faint, locking my knees. Sorry to
interrupt like that, but there we go. That's
what it is, there it is. That's restart number
two. The kingdom of God opened eyes that couldn't
see. Well, we have these two blind men that as
Jesus is leaving the house of the ruler, two
blind men start following him and they're yelling
out, have mercy on us, son of what? Son of David.
And this title, Son of David, is loaded. It's
loaded with meaning. It's more than just a name
for someone's family name. It's loaded with the
meaning of, it's a royal title, a messianic confession.
This is the Messiah King, Son of David. They're
not just asking for healing. They're actually
going around declaring that the wandering rabbi
is the long -awaited king. And you think about
that, the men who can't see are the only ones
seeing Jesus clearly. The men who can't see with
their eyes are the ones who are seeing Jesus
clearly. Before Peter even makes his confession
about Jesus, two blind men make their confession.
Mercy on us, son of David. And the Pharisees
and the scribes, well, they had sight, they had
education, they had access, they had power and
control, but they had no vision. These men had
none of that, but faith had given them eyes.
The kingdom of God doesn't come to those who
think they already see. The kingdom of God is
only visible to those who admit their blindness.
Jesus asked him a question. Do you believe that
I am able to do this? He could have just healed
them, but instead he draws out their faith because
faith is not an accessory in the kingdom. It's
not an add on. It's the way that people rightly
respond to Jesus, the right response to Jesus,
the right response to an encounter with Jesus
or an experience with Jesus is faith. And so
Jesus draws out even more and says, do you believe
that I am able to do this? He wants them to understand
that healing isn't mechanical or magical. Healing
is relational. Do you believe that I am able
to do this? And by asking, do you believe I am
able, he's helping them to see that the source
of their healing is not the act itself. But it's
him. It's Jesus. And their faith doesn't earn
them a miracle. That's not what Jesus is saying
when he says, your faith has healed you. It doesn't
earn them a miracle because they had faith. What
it does is it connects them to the only one who
can give it. Faith is the connection, the relational
connection to Jesus, drawing to Jesus. Jesus
is the one who can perform the miracle. He's
the one who can change the circumstance. Faith
is the new wine skin that can hold what God pours
out. Not knowledge, not background, not prestige,
not credentials, not a hierarchy or control,
faith. Faith is the eye of the soul. It sees
what reason cannot because it trusts what Jesus
has said. And instantly, what does the Bible
say? Well, Jesus asked him the question, Do you
believe I am able? And they say yes, and their
sight is restored. Instantly they see, and their
first sight is what? The face of the one who
gave them sight. And that's a picture of the
gospel. When the light of Christ breaks in, we
see him first and behold him. But Jesus gives
him a kind of strange command doesn't he? He
says be sure no one finds out Now I don't know
about you, but how do you tell a couple of blind
people who just received their sights? Don't
say nothing about it, right? And it says he said
it sternly so he I'm guessing Jesus meant it
right like don't do it Don't you dare don't you
dare go and tell someone? But you know what it
And it kind of reflects this pattern that's in
the gospels. Jesus would often tell people not
to spread the news because of public excitement
about his miracles and because that excitement
could easily create a wrong expectation about
what his mission was. It could prematurely jump
the gun, get him killed earlier. Many in Israel
were looking for a political messiah or a military
leader to come in. Jesus didn't want the crowds
to define his role. in their terms. By asking
them to be quiet, he's kind of slowing down the
misunderstanding and he keeps the focus on the
message of the kingdom rather than the sensational
nature of the miracles. But of course, like you
and I, they could not keep silent. They go out
and spread the news through the whole region.
I firmly, you know, I get it. When your eyes
have been opened, you're not gonna be quiet.
The old wine skin said, see and then believe,
but Jesus says believe and then you'll see. And
so two blind men walk out seeing for the first
time, but the story doesn't stop there. The kingdom
keeps on breaking in and this time not to open
eyes, but to open a mouth that has been silenced.
because where Jesus reigns, darkness has to let
go. The devil will not have the final word, Jesus
will. And so if you're taking notes, the final
point I'll have you write down is number three,
the new kingdom sets captives free. Right after
the blind man walk, the blind man walk out with
open eyes, another man was brought in and this
one can't speak. Mute, oppressed by demons. or
depressed by a demon and held hostage by darkness.
No words and no control. No way to ask for help.
And I think that's important to know that even
when you can't cry out, Jesus hears those silent
cries. And so they bring the man to him, and
without fanfare, it literally is demon possessed
man brought to him, he can't speak, and then
he left delivered. Again, Matthew's not giving
us a whole lot of details, he's just going bam,
bam, bam, one right after the other, look what
the kingdom is doing. The man begins to speak,
and the first words are the sound of freedom.
And the crowd says, Nothing like this has ever
been seen in Israel. And I think that's an important
line. They're not saying, oh, it's just a comment
on the miracle. Wow, we've seen a lot of other
miracles, but we've never seen a miracle quite
like this one. It's not a comment on the miracle,
it's a declaration that literally the old wineskin
is breaking, it's cracking. All their system
sacrifices, ceremonies could never produce this
kind of power. This is the new wine of the kingdom
of God breaking through. But not everyone celebrates.
The Pharisees can't deny the miracle. And so
what do they do? They distort it and they say,
oh, he must be driving out demons by the ruler
of demons. And when they can't explain Jesus,
they accuse him. Every time Jesus heals, forgives
or frees. He reclaims territory from the enemy.
And that's what happens here. Every healing,
every deliverance, every act of mercy, it's the
kingdom advancing one person at a time. Jesus
is reclaiming what the enemy had stolen. He's
restoring the voice that sin and shame tried
to silence. And the crowds say, we've never seen
anything like this before. And of course they
have, because when the kingdom breaks in, it
doesn't just make your life better, it makes
it brand new. The old order could manage and
contain, but Jesus brings liberation and freedom.
And that's where this tension shows up, the people
rejoicing, but the self -righteous religious
spirit can't handle grace breaking in. They try
to stuff the new wine back into the old wine
skins, play by the rules, get in line, but it
won't fit because the kingdom of God isn't about
control, it's about freedom. Where the spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom. If Christ has
set you free, you are free indeed. And so as
we kind of step back from all these stories,
we really see one picture. Shame replaced by
wholeness, death replaced by life, blindness
replaced by side, bondage replaced by freedom,
and that's what happens when the king breaks
in. What we've seen is what happens when new
wine that Jesus talked about begins to flow.
It doesn't stay theoretical. It actually touches
real people. And when it touches them, everything
changes. A dead girl lives. A bleeding woman
is restored. A blind eye see and a silenced man
speaks four stories, but really one message.
The kingdom of God can't be contained. Let it
break out. The old religious system could label
people unclean or unworthy or untouchable, but
the new kingdom restores them. Jesus didn't come
to patch the old system. He came to replace it
with himself. He came to make dead people live
again. As John Stott once said, Christianity
is a rescue religion. And that's what he's still
doing. In a room like this, in hearts like yours,
the kingdom is still breaking in. You might feel
like the bleeding woman drained, ashamed, and
out of options. You might feel like the father
desperate for something that you can't fix. You
might feel like the blind man walking in darkness
just hoping for mercy to walk near you. Or maybe
like the mute man trapped, voiceless, unable
to express what's going on inside. I think we
all need to hear that Jesus is not afraid of
your unclean spaces and places. Jesus is not
afraid. He will step right into them. He didn't
come to improve the old life, friends. He came
to give you a new one. And so when the kingdom
breaks in, the dead live, the blind see, and
the bound are free. And the question for us is
will we stay inside the old wine skin or will
we let him pour something new into us today?
The old life can't contain the life of the king.
The old life can't contain the life of the kingdom.
And thank God it doesn't have to. Jesus makes
us new.